Related To:

100527_0274.tif

We never knew there were so many ways to fry a banana until we read the entries from our May 2010 contest. We received recipes for fried banana chips, deep-fried bananas on a stick, even fried banana cheesecake, but the best of all were these little beignets, submitted by Jacqueline McComas of Paoli, PA. Jacqueline took her mother’s beignet recipe and hit it with a double dose of the secret ingredient: fresh banana and banana extract. And instead of the usual confectioners' sugar, she rolled the still-warm beignets in cinnamon sugar to get a sweet, crunchy crust. "You don’t get that crispness with a regular doughnut," she says.

Jacqueline McComas

Jacqueline McComas

Jacqueline McComas of Paoli, PA, won us over with her bite-size banana beignets.

When thickening a fruit pie filling, there are several options to consider. Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency.